DB Vol 5 Part 2

“Vice Head, hasn’t the exact date for our departure been set yet?”

“I’ve only heard it will be within a few days.”

Hong Jeong-yeong answered and gave an apologetic, awkward smile.

“I know you’re all curious. Just how big of an incident will happen in the North, and how do we know about it? But you know how closed off the Gye family is, right? Even if we tell them we’ve obtained information about a big incident in the North and offer to help, it seems the Gye family doesn’t believe us. Our only way to help is to go after the problem occurs. By then, the Gye family will have no choice but to accept our helping hand.”

At her calm explanation, a few people showed puzzled expressions.

“Just how big of an incident is it? Isn’t Gye Yoon in the North? Although there are problems with his guiding, he’s still an S-rank ability user. Unless it’s a catastrophe in the North…”

“It seems that guiding problem has become more serious.”

Hong Jeong-yeong paused for a moment as if choosing her words, then carefully speculated.

“Although it’s not accurate because the North is controlling information so tightly, we’ve obtained reliable information that numerous mercenaries have died. We suspect that Gye Yoon might already have a problem, causing harm to the mercenaries. Seeing both the Hong and Yang families preparing support like this, I think Gye Yoon might have fallen into an irreversible state.”

For an Esper, there was only one thing that came to mind for an irreversible state.

“You don’t mean he’s on the verge of going rampage…”

Someone’s words of shock were cut off before they could finish.

Beep, beep, beep.

The phone alarm of one of the Espers present rang loudly. It was a sound everyone knew well. The monster appearance alarm. The Esper quickly stood up after checking their phone.

“It seems an accident has occurred at the farm in my assigned area.”

“Hurry and go.”

Hong Jeong-yeong also stood up, but she couldn’t finish seeing them off.

Beep, beep, beep.

Her phone alarm also rang loudly. But that wasn’t the end.

Beep, beep, beep.

Beep, beep, beep.

Beep, beep, beep.

The phones of all the Espers gathered here began to sound alarms one after another.

The information Won-woo received from the Gye family was quite useful. Especially, one farm was where many of the Espers Won-woo had suggested as priority for elimination were stationed. So Won-woo woke up more monsters at this farm and was still remaining there.

[How are you planning to eliminate the Espers?]

Seona asked with concern over the communication. Partly because Seona’s voice was small, but also due to the noise of the farm that had turned into a battlefield, he couldn’t hear clearly right away. Won-woo was looking down from a high place where the entire farm was visible.

Fortunately, on this day, a black sky without even a moon was covering everything, so no one noticed the presence of Won-woo, who had covered his entire body with black clothes. No, no one would have expected a person to be floating in that high sky.

What lifted Won-woo into the sky was a swirling whirlwind. Most people would have been engulfed in terror, floundering without being able to hold onto anything in that wind.

However, Won-woo was standing, balancing familiarly in the wind.

“3 o’clock direction.”

Seona seemed to understand Won-woo’s words immediately as the whirlwind enveloping Won-woo’s body moved. Moving a person at will not only required high ability but also precise skill. Moreover, controlling from a distance? That’s why at first, Seona had shaken her head saying she couldn’t do it. She was only a B-rank Esper. What if she accidentally dropped Won-woo, who was no different from a normal person, while lifting him in the air? But Won-woo had smiled and assured her.

‘Seona, you’ll do amazingly well.’

Amazingly. At this word, Seona had courageously tried. Although she was still sweating nervously all over her body, it was indeed doable. So Won-woo was able to easily approach the targeted Esper.

[Don’t get too close.]

With those words, Seona positioned Won-woo far from the target. Won-woo had already expected her to caution him like this, so he smiled silently. It was the same in the original world. Won-woo’s safety was always the top priority. Even now, because she had lifted him so high fearing Won-woo might be attacked by monsters, he couldn’t even see the Esper’s face properly.

But he could identify what ability the Esper was using. As soon as he identified the target by this method, Won-woo stretched out his hand towards the Esper. Although the distance was far and there were monsters interfering in between, it didn’t matter. He could just strip away the ability of the blocking monsters too.

Thud!

Crash!

The monster that had been rampaging, blocking the target, instantly lost its ability and fell from the air. As soon as the path cleared, the Esper’s condition came into view. It was the same as Hong Eun-tae’s case. It was easy to extract the energy inside the Esper.

Just like a balloon deflates when you make a small pinhole, it was the same with Espers. Just one tiny gap was enough. As he grabbed and pulled out the energy through that gap, the rest came out on its own. The Esper, suddenly losing power, bent over in confusion, and then the monster surrounding him finished the job.

Stab.

The monster’s long, sharp foreleg, like the scythe of death, pierced through the immobilized target’s body. The Esper who had lost his power was as weak as an ordinary person. Once, Seona had said this while watching Won-woo eliminate Espers from the sky,

‘You’re like some kind of god of death.’

It wasn’t a pleasant comparison. It meant he was that good at killing someone. So Won-woo tried not to feel superior even while floating in the sky. He tried to think of the work simply, focusing only on the target. Won-woo turned his head expressionlessly even as he heard the screams of the fallen Esper’s comrades.

Although its performance was lower than what he used in the original world, the night vision goggles borrowed from Sang-cheon helped in finding targets. Fortunately, there was someone nearby shooting crackling energy like electricity towards the monsters. It was one of the Espers on the list. Won-woo’s hand moved again towards the target. His fingers, covered in black leather gloves, were as black as death itself.

‘Go to XXX Farm right now! They still haven’t contained it!’

As the farm Seung-wook was in charge of was getting somewhat under control, someone from the Hong family shouted at him. Dealing with the endlessly emerging monsters took priority over finding the cause of this suddenly simultaneous disaster. The place desperately needing an A-rank Esper like Seung-wook was a farm belonging to the Hong family, but directly managed by Hong Jeong-yeong.

So, as soon as Seung-wook arrived there, the list of casualties he heard included several Espers who had been drinking tea with Hong Jeong-yeong in her room earlier. No, she was included as well.

Impossible. Weren’t they mostly A-rank Espers? However, in the chaotic farm, there was no time to confirm if the casualty list was true or not. All he could do was grab the blood-covered commander and ask,

“Support has arrived. Where is the most urgent?”

“Ah, west… No, go east! It’s been breached and monsters are already heading to the residential area!”

As soon as Seung-wook heard this, he ran off as if disappearing. A while later, the place he arrived at was one of the rural villages at the foot of the mountain where no one could provide support.

‘Please at least evacuate the people!’

He ran panting at the request of someone he met on the way, but his legs gradually slowed as he approached the village. Monster corpses were strewn around the village. Moreover, there were no visible special wounds on the monster corpses. As if someone had easily cut off their lifelines, the monsters lay dead with their bodies intact. And there were countless numbers of them.

Such clean work? Who on earth? He couldn’t think of anyone. As Seung-wook was slowly taking one step at a time like this, his feet completely stopped at the entrance. Someone was standing among the piles of monster corpses. Not only wearing a deeply pulled black hood, but also a black mask, black pants, and even black gloves.

The person completely covered in black noticed the presence and turned their head. At that moment, Seung-wook drew in a breath. The other person was quite far away and not even a strand of hair was visible, but a name unconsciously burst from his mouth.

“…Ji Won-woo?”

Even for the most excellent Esper, life and death could be decided in 0.1 seconds in a fight with monsters. That’s why instantaneous situational judgment was important. Even if one’s rank was high and their ability superior to others, if they hesitated or became scared at crucial moments, they became a burden. Especially in tasks requiring cooperation.

And the Center usually worked in teams. Because of this, Seona had met many people as team members and seen those who couldn’t perform well despite their abilities. On the other hand, she had also seen those who saved the team with momentary wit and accurate situational judgment despite having lower abilities. Of course, the latter case was rare. Even rarer was when one worked well with such a competent colleague.

Just once, before coming to the East Center, she had met such a person. It was a C-rank Esper in her late 50s whom she had worked with, and she matched so well with Seona. Perhaps it was because she had deep experience that she matched so well with Seona. Thanks to her, Seona learned how much joy working with a well matched colleague could bring in a monster fight scene where every moment was a crisis. It was like the satisfaction of fitting the last piece of a puzzle.

That’s how Seona felt now. It was amazing. Even though supporting someone by lifting them with wind was something she was doing for the first time. As if he had completely understood how Seona felt, what she found difficult, and how she wanted to use her ability, suggestions came from his mouth first. Moreover, Seona had been secretly worried about civilian casualties from rampaging monsters, but again, the answer she wanted came first.

‘There will surely be residential areas that the Hong family misses. Mr. Hwang, have you found them?’

Then, the person providing rear support through the communicator shouted in a frantic voice,

‘East! The east has been breached! Oh my, wait, there’s a small village at the foot of the mountain where many elderly people live… Just a moment, the Hong family’s communication… Ugh, these guys don’t even have the capacity to go there now!’

So Won-woo and Seona rushed to the village at the foot of the mountain. Won-woo said he would stop the monsters and sent Seona to the village first to evacuate the residents. Then, as if sensing Seona’s hesitation, he said,

‘Even if all the monsters in the world wake up, I won’t die.’

She chuckled at the exaggerated joke, but couldn’t help feeling reassured. Although it had only been a day, she believed him because they had achieved their goal and survived the monster-infested danger zone. There was one more person who felt similarly to Seona. After guiding all the elderly to the underground shelter prepared in the village, Seona asked Sang-cheon,

“Mr. Hwang, is it 27 people?”

[Yes, yes, that’s right. 27 residents. Originally there were 29, but two are out of the village due to hospitalization. I even contacted the hospital to check if those two were okay. Ah, they’re friends who went to pick mountain herbs together and both slipped…]

“Yes, it’s 27 people.”

Seona cut off Sang-cheon’s words coldly, but his excited voice, which had been chattering enthusiastically, couldn’t easily calm down.

[That’s right, 27 people! Exactly 27 people!]

Seona preferred to speak briefly and to the point during operations. She disliked revealing emotions and listing unnecessary information like Sang-cheon, but understanding his mood, she didn’t stop him further. Won-woo, Seona, and Sang-cheon had never practiced before entering the actual operation.

Especially since Sang-cheon was a civilian, there was great anxiety about making him the supporter for this task. So he seemed unable to hide his excitement that things had wrapped up so well. How else could he have seriously confessed that he felt like he had finally found his calling?

Seona agreed. Working with Won-woo definitely suited her aptitude. Moreover, she liked the way of thinking of both of them. In a situation where they came to kill enemies using monsters, saving civilians could have been a pretentious action.

It could have been hypocrisy trying to offset the sin of taking lives with such a good deed. But neither of them showed off with selective good deeds. It was just the talkative Sang-cheon’s unnecessary chatter that continued.

[Wow, the Hong family really does dominate the East. It looks like other places are almost all cleaned up. Support is converging here. The teleportation portals are on fire. The amount of seeds used each time they move is enormous, the Hong family must be rich. I calculated, the money the Hong family spent operating the teleportation portals this time…]

Ah, really, this guy. Fortunately, before Seona could stop him, someone else cut him off.

[Shall we withdraw now too?]

At Won-woo’s voice, Seona and Sang-cheon asked simultaneously,

[Are you okay?!]

“What about the remaining monsters?”

Seona stopped and focused on the communicator to hear Won-woo’s answer. It seemed Sang-cheon was the same, as not even the sound of breathing could be heard. So when Won-woo’s voice was heard after a short interval, relief flowed naturally.

[Almost all cleared up.]

[Ah, wait a moment. Let me check the monster tracker launched by the Hong family. Most of the trackers installed on the ground have been smashed, so it seems they’re compiling data from trackers personally held by Espers. If there are any Espers nearby, the tracker might show up, so I’ll take a look.]

[No. Mr. Hwang, please check the teleportation portal we need to go to first.]

[Of course, I’m checking that too.]

Sang-cheon seemed busy, as the sound of clicking a mouse and typing on a keyboard could be heard through the communicator. As Seona was thinking they might need one more person for rear support, Won-woo asked the same question,

[How about using Nani for simple data compilation?]

Suddenly, all sounds from Sang-cheon’s side cut off. Seona remembered the name she had heard a few times and was curious. Is Mr. Hwang’s child also good with computers? After a while, Sang-cheon’s stiff voice was heard.

[Nani is dead.]

This time, the others fell silent. Seona frowned, not knowing how to react to what she had just heard. So suddenly? However, unlike the shocked Seona, Won-woo’s voice only contained a slight regret.

[So it ended up that way. But can’t you revive it again? I’m sure Mr. Hwang would have left a contingency plan, right? You’re not an irresponsible person.]

Seona was shocked. How can you revive a person? As expected, Sang-cheon’s mumbling words were heard.

[…I was a bit overwhelmed this time and acted irresponsibly.]

His suppressed voice sounded hurt in pride, but to Seona, it sounded like the suppressed sorrow of a father who had lost his child. From now on, she should criticize him less even if he talks too much.

[That’s a shame. I enjoyed talking with Nani.]

[Ahem, but Nani is dead… Ah, anyway, I’m getting information from the Hong family’s communication… Oh?]

“What is it, Mr. Hwang?”

When Seona asked, Sang-cheon’s confused voice stammered:

[Uh… Suddenly the monster data from that area is rapidly increasing… Uh, it seems someone is going there…]

Before Sang-cheon could finish, Seona flew like the wind. And when she instantly approached where Won-woo was, she heard Won-woo’s whisper through the communicator.

[Seona, stop.]

But this time she couldn’t obey. Because riding the wind, she clearly heard someone’s words in her ears.

‘…Ji Won-woo?’

Someone had recognized Won-woo at once.

On that night when the east was overrun with monsters, the lights in the Gye family mansion were still brightly lit. Indeed, attack was the best defense. There was a high possibility that they would temporarily stop their plan to spread mutant seeds in the North, being caught off guard by this unexpected attack. However, Gye Min didn’t let her guard down. She had to prepare for all possibilities.

“Yang Cheon-hyo and Ji Geun-oh might use this opportunity to scheme instead.”

Gye Min leaned on a desk in the information team room that had become the situation room and looked at the monitor. Information hacked from communications was rapidly updating there.

They must be quite overwhelmed, as they didn’t notice even though all sorts of communication networks were being eavesdropped and spied on. This situation was quite bitter for Gye Min. When we were in such a chaotic situation, did they spy on us like this? And did they snicker?

“Yes, that’s possible. If the Hong family sees the cause of this incident as mutant seeds, they’ll need to prove it wasn’t them. So they might attack our North as planned.”

Chief Jung mentioned one possibility. Of course, this was only possible if the enemies were bold enough. And the two Gye Min knew didn’t have that capacity. But you never know with people. They didn’t expect Ji Geun-oh to dare betray the North and use a Guide to hold their leash either.

“Right, they might ostentatiously spread more mutant seeds in our North to prove their innocence to the Hong family.”

For Yang Cheon-hyo, joining hands with the Hong family was more important than completely taking over the Yang family. Yang Cheon-hyo had been doing this for a long time. Instead of gaining complete power by taking over the Yang family and then striking the North, he did his best to trample the Gye family using Ji Geun-oh, as if bringing down the North first was the order of things.

Having made a habit of attacking the North for a long time, he wouldn’t stop his plans to attack the North even if the situation was unfavorable. But this also meant that they couldn’t make rational judgments about the North. This could be their weakness.

“What about Yoon?”

When Gye Min, who had been staring at the monitor, turned around, Chief Jung’s eyes wavered slightly.

“We’ve lost track of the Vice Head’s whereabouts, but we’re definitely monitoring the teleportation portals well. He hasn’t shown himself there.”

Gye Yoon could move instantaneously like sound, as much as he used the ability of sound. But the maximum distance he could go was about 30km at most. So unless he moved crudely by jumping dozens of times, he would have to use a teleportation portal to reach Won-woo.

Of course, it was honestly unbelievable that a sound-related ability user could teleport to this extent. That’s why hardly anyone knew that Gye Yoon could teleport, even though he was S-rank. Even Gye Min, his family, was suspicious enough to wonder if a different ability had manifested when she first saw Gye Yoon’s ability.

Why wouldn’t she be? He said this skill developed out of desperation to escape their parents’ nagging. Because he was such a crazy guy, Gye Min kept checking her brother’s location even now. She was more concerned about Gye Yoon, whose actions were unpredictable, than the enemies attacking the North with mutant seeds. The look in his eyes when he was watching Ji Won-woo kept bothering her.

“Even if he did go to the East where Ji Won-woo is, he’s aware that it would be a big problem if something happened to the North in the meantime. He’s not that irresponsible.”

Gye Min didn’t respond to Chief Jung’s assessment, but inwardly she nodded in agreement. Right, that bastard isn’t irresponsible enough to chase after Ji Won-woo without any precautions. Then where the hell is he and what is he doing?

‘How about using Nani for simple data compilation?’

When Won-woo’s voice was heard on the eavesdropped communication, Gye Yoon stopped his slow walk. He had been moving aimlessly for some time. No, there was a direction. Southeast.

He was monitoring the situation in the North on his sister’s orders, but there wasn’t much to do. All his attention was focused on Won-woo, Seona, and Sang-cheon working together to stir up the Hong family.

Fortunately, thanks to mixing in some threats when talking to Sang-cheon, he could eavesdrop on their communications about what they were doing. And when the name Nani came from Won-woo, he felt strange. Is he still taking care of that machine? Until when?

As he attempted a schizophrenic fit of annoyance despite being that machine himself, Sang-cheon’s voice was heard. It was a direct communication to Gye Yoon, not his colleagues.

[…He is looking for Nani?]

“Say it’s dead.”

When Gye Yoon answered coldly, Sang-cheon’s surprised breath was heard.

[So suddenly?]

“What do you mean suddenly? I already said it would disappear.”

[That’s right. That’s the problem. I always back up the computers I manage. Backup is life to me. He’s asking me now if I can revive it, and you want me to say I can’t? That’s not like me!]

“Just make a Nani2 or something.”

[…I’ll just say I did something unlike myself.]

Sang-cheon felt wronged, but Gye Yoon felt relieved thinking the Nani business was completely over. However, Won-woo’s reaction bothered him until the end.

[That’s a shame. I enjoyed talking with Nani.]

It was such trivial conversation. Gye Yoon repeated the question he had harbored several times. It really was nothing special. If you want to talk that much, I can do it for you. No, he felt like getting angry and demanding to talk to him. After all, even now Gye Yoon was going crazy wanting to hear his voice every minute, every second.

This emotion was similar to facing an unreachable goal. A feeling of going crazy with impatience, unable to reach no matter how desperately you stretch out your hand. At first, he thought it was simply because of his guiding. That he was attracted to Ji Won-woo because he was an Esper and wanted to feel that ecstatic guiding again.

But when he hugged Won-woo’s waist on the rooftop and Won-woo stroked his head, he felt a sense of fulfillment even though it wasn’t guiding. He felt like his heart would melt with satisfaction.

Separating from him felt like the hardest thing in the world. The frustration that hit when they parted was ridiculously overwhelming. That’s why even his voice mixed with the static noise from the communicator felt precious. He wanted to hear his voice directly.

Sound, which had always been an annoying and irritating presence, was completely different when it came to Won-woo. Every sound from him captivated Gye Yoon. His heartbeat, breathing, even the slightest movement of his skin. As if addicted to Won-woo’s sounds, he wanted to keep hearing them, over and over. Suddenly, the wind was so strong that Gye Yoon unknowingly unleashed his ability to try and catch Won-woo’s sound.

Even knowing Won-woo was too far away to hear his sound, he made a reckless attempt. Of course, there was no sound to be heard. Instead, an immense sea of noise instantly engulfed Gye Yoon, causing him to grit his teeth and withdraw the power he had released. Just that brief attempt left him breathless.

Damn it.

Gye Yoon cursed his own weakness as he took a deep breath. He knew it was a reckless attempt, but he still felt disappointed. However, he wasn’t foolish enough to try again. He hadn’t lost his reason enough to abandon the safety of the North and rush over.

But then a stranger’s voice was heard through the communicator. Though faint, Gye Yoon clearly understood. It was Won-woo’s name. And he instantly recognized who the voice belonged to.

“Why that Hong Seung-wook bastard.”

Gye Yoon’s eyes filled with annoyed madness as he spat out the name in a low, fierce tone.

Won-woo hadn’t expected much from this operation. The Gye family head had told him to cause a riot, but since he couldn’t gauge the enemies’ abilities, he had released monsters at a level that seemed somewhat weak. But he didn’t expect them to be this flustered and unable to get their act together. Because of this, Won-woo’s group had to rescue civilians from the rampaging monsters.

Won-woo had to keep his identity hidden as much as possible, so he was mostly checking his surroundings using the monster tracker on his wrist, but the devices here were much less efficient than in his original world. The range was narrow. So while he was focused on guarding the entrance until the villagers could evacuate, he missed the sign of someone approaching. And of all people, it was a familiar face.

He didn’t know how Hong Seung-wook recognized him all bundled up, but his name immediately came from Seung-wook’s mouth. Fortunately, it seemed Seung-wook wasn’t entirely sure either. After blurting out the name, he froze as if surprised at himself.

But the opponent was an A-rank Esper. Won-woo was in a situation where he had to flee from him while hiding his ability. If only a monster would appear at a time like this to distract Hong Seung-wook… Hoping, he quickly glanced at the tracker on his wrist.

Unfortunately, there were no monsters nearby. I killed too many. As he regretted this, he heard footsteps approaching. He was about to use his ability to stop him when Seung-wook only took one step forward.

“You… Won-woo?”

His voice was still mixed with doubt. Won-woo felt relieved but also puzzled. How on earth did he recognize him? Won-woo just shook his head. Seung-wook frowned at the light head shake that didn’t match the situation.

As Seung-wook took another step forward, Seona’s voice was heard through the communicator.

[I’ll pull you out with the wind.]

Tap tap. Won-woo tapped the communicator twice with his finger. They had agreed to signal like this when he couldn’t speak. Once for yes, twice for no.

He hoped the quick-witted Seona would realize the meaning behind the signal not to do it. Using wind ability would reveal Seona’s identity. Just as he was thinking he’d have to take action himself, Seung-wook’s whisper-like mumble was heard.

“I hoped you were alive. That’s why I thought I might be seeing an illusion.”

Won-woo momentarily recalled the past in his gaze. Sometimes at camp in the past, when he felt a gaze and turned around, he had met eyes similar to Seung-wook’s current ones.

But that doesn’t make sense, right? In Won-woo’s original world, Hong Seung-wook had a one-sided love for him, but not here. Won-woo instinctively took a big step back. Didn’t he have a brief date and resolve things with the original Ji Won-woo?

He had believed that Seung-wook’s desire to talk to Won-woo at the East Center was simply because he found the changed Won-woo strange. But he still had feelings left? Why on earth? Even though he had a lover.

Won-woo raised his arm to use his ability on him but hesitated for a moment. Hong Seung-wook had betrayed his family in the original world.

Could that be used here too? He pondered for a few seconds but quickly dismissed the thought. Things get messy when emotions are involved. But was it because of these distracting thoughts? Won-woo missed the chance to control Hong Seung-wook’s ability.

It was because Seung-wook acted quickly first. Water suddenly formed around Won-woo’s face as if clumping together. Like wearing an aquarium only on his head, round water enveloped Won-woo’s face. This was Seung-wook’s specialty for easily cutting off an enemy’s breath.

Gasp.

Not only unable to breathe, but with his vision blurred, Won-woo stepped back again. He had let his guard down too much like a fool. Whether Seung-wook used his ability or not, his voice was clearly heard through the water.

“Whether you’re an illusion or not, I’ll confirm your identity now.”

Damn it. Won-woo held his breath and raised his hand, intending to grab and pull out whatever force he could randomly grasp. This might harm Seona who might be nearby, but there was no time to consider the situation now.

Seung-wook, seemingly trying to subdue him at once, made the water enveloping Won-woo’s face penetrate into his nostrils. It wasn’t simply blocking his breath; the water was plugging up all the internal openings.

Gasp!

For a moment, his head went blank. He vaguely felt his arm being grabbed. He needed to shake it off. He needed to use his ability to stop him, but his mind, unable to think, couldn’t command his body. As a last resort, he flailed his arms as if struggling. However, the opponent easily subdued Won-woo and reached for his face. That hand tried to remove Won-woo’s mask and hood.

Won-woo instinctively raised his arm again to push the other away, but he couldn’t grasp anything. No, he couldn’t move anymore. Suddenly, all sound disappeared. And darkness enveloped Won-woo as if his very existence had vanished.

It felt like passing through a moment that seemed eternal. But in his dazed state, he couldn’t properly realize the situation had changed. All that mattered was that the water enveloping his face was gone.

“Cough, cough!”

Won-woo, kneeling on the ground, spat out the water that had blocked his airway. As he coughed and gasped for air, drooling, air entered his body.

“Gasp!”

Even as he took a deep breath, filling his chest, he coughed several times and couldn’t lift his head. While doing so, his mind belatedly started to work. How on earth? Won-woo tried to straighten his staggering body while pondering the question. However, as soon as he saw his surroundings, he froze.

Huh? Where is this? Although it was dark, it was clearly a completely different place from where Won-woo had been. He immediately looked around for Seung-wook. But instead of the unfamiliar scenery, an unexpected person was in front of him.

Someone was slumped over and supporting himself on the floor with his hands. A person shaking violently as if about to collapse, gasping for breath in pain. Won-woo’s eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of him. Huh? Why was Gye Yoon here?